Here is our line-up of Chromebooks with a convertible profile. These are Chromebooks from ASUS and ACER, two manufacturers making some of the best Chromebooks in the past and are at it continuing to produce the best in class devices at affordable prices.

In an exciting move by Google, the search giant has offered support for Android Apps on the Chromebooks. This means you can now run install and full-blown Android Apps, those that you are used to on your Android Smartphone or Tablet on ChromeOS. The move just made Chromebook even more appealing as a device that could potentially replace your Windows laptop for education.

More Than Just an Operating System Based on a Web Browser

This means that you can now run apps that you bought from the Google Play Store for Android including games, social media apps, music streaming, video streaming, news, booking and shopping apps on your convertible laptop.

Imagine playing Super Mario Run or GT City Racing game on the big screen, catching up with your friends on Facebook, WhatsApp Messenger, Instagram, Twitter and Hangouts, using Netflix or Spotify for videos and music or actually doing some work on Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Keep, Drive, Calendar and Mail. You can do all that and more on the Chromebook.

With bigger storage and a microSD card, you can even download and cache music, movies and TV shows from Spotify or Netflix locally for offline viewing just like you do on your tablet.

The catch here is that you need to be fully acquainted with Google and has a Google account to start. If you already use Google Mail as your primary email account or used the Google Chrome browser then you are pretty much there. The Chromebook will sync your settings, bookmark, web extensions and add-ons straight away.

Coping with Work

You can then access the Google Play store to download your apps. If you are more familiar with Microsoft’s Office suite of apps and is not completely weened off your dependence of the productivity suite, you can still access Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and OneDrive. Simply download and install the relevant Android Apps and run these on your laptop.

The other plus is that Google Assistant is now fully integrated and can be summoned with a press of a button. With voice command, you can control common tasks searches, sending an email or checking the weather. And, if you are fully invested with Google Home and smart home automation, you can download the Google Home app and start Chromecast, speakers and other compatible devices form there.

First we have the ASUS Chromebook Flip C203, the closes a device can get to the Pixelbook. In fact it uses the same 7th generation Core M7 processor as the Pixelbook. The only differences here are the amount of memory and storage. Even at half the memory at 4GB and half storage at 64GB, it is still very ‘roomy’ for the operating systems and any applications you choose to run.

The premium built quality and design makes this a great alternative to the high-end Pixelbook. The ASUS Chromebook Flip C302’s chassis has a silver lid with a tough and durable metal finish.

The other thing it fall short on is the display, at 12.5-inch, it is slightly bigger than the Pixelbook with 0.2-inch difference but only at Full HD resolution at 1920 x 1080. Still any device with Full HD display is sufficiently sharp in our books and cost less than half the price of a Pixelbook with M7 class processor. It lets you access, apart from the Chrome Internet browse and its web apps and extensions, you an access Android Apps and Amazon Apps.

If you are familiar with an Android based tablet, this will be no different. Simply flip and convert the laptop into a tablet and use it like you do your tablet. There are two USB Type-C ports for connectivity, microSD card slot for expansion, HD camera for video calls and illuminated chiclet keyboard. ASUS, from their website does indicate that models with 8GB RAM and 128GB eMMC storage are also available.

2. ASUS Chromebook Flip C302 with Intel Core M3

We love the Chromebook Flip C302 so much, we listed it twice here. This time, with a slower processor making the device truly affordable. This version uses the Intel Core M3 processor but still has the same amount of memory and storage as the first C302 above. Not only that, it also has the 12.5-inch Full HD Touchscreen Display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution making every super sharp include watching movies and TV shows.

The device is designed to be ultra portable and ultra slim using a mobile processor that does not require cooling. This makes the tablet fanless and therefore silent, as whatever tablet should be. While it consumes very little energy it is also fast enough for all your daily computing needs such as checking the email, browsing the web, watching videos and even some light online photo editing.

The 360-degree hinge is smooth and firm, offering you the support you need to keep the screen where you need it to be and you can convert it from a laptop to a tablet with a seamless motion. The battery will last all day or up to 10 hours perfect for the office, on the road or at home. If you need additional storage, you can either connect an external hard drive or use the SD card slot.

The ASUS Chromebook Flip C101 is a small device with 10.1-inch touchscreen. It is more the size of the conventional 10-inch tablets available in the market like the 10.1-inch iPad Pro but with 360-degree hinge and a keyboard built-in making it slightly thicker measuring 15.6mm thin. Still, it is an ultra thin and lightweight device for a convertible laptop.

As a laptop, you get a chiclet keyboard and spacious touchpad with intuitive gesture control, two fast USB 3.0 Type-C ports and one USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm audio socket and SD card reader. The USB 3.0 Type-C ports support charging, video output and fast data transfer of up to 5Gbps and is completely backward compatible with all USB devices with the right adapter.The 10.1-inch display while offering HD resolution at 1280 x 800 pixels has a wide viewing angle of up to 178-degrees perfect for sharing what is on your screen with a group.

As with all convertible laptops, the 360-degree hinge lets you use the Chromebook in a number of ways, including laptop, tablet, stand and tent modes. You can work the way you want at home, school or the office using the keyboard or touch screen interface. Chrome OS is fast and responsive as usual and the long 9 hour battery life powers you through the day without needing a wall socket.

If you are after a full sized convertible laptop, the ACER Chromebook R13 is for you. Powered by an energy efficient mobile processor from MediaTek, the device offers all day computing with a battery life of up to 12 hours even with a full 13.3-inch Full HD IPS LED display.

It may not have cutting edge performance like the Core M7 processor but you get a full size display pushing 1920 x 1080 pixels, 4GB RAM memory and 64 GB eMMC storage and plenty of connectivity options more than make up for this. If you need more storage, you can alway take advantage of the MicroSD slot.

The 11.6-inch touchscreen sits nicely between the 10.1-inch and the 12.5-inch alternatives listed here for those who wants a middle ground between the two sizes. The IPS display panel while only 1366 x 768 pixel is clear and responsive.The convertible laptop from Acer has a dual-torque 360-degree hinge that lets you use the for different modes while keeping the touchscreen steady at all time during use with taps, swipes and pinch gestures.

Powered by an Intel Celeron N3060 processor with 4GB or RAM and 32GB or eMMC storage, it is sufficient to keep you working on the Chrome OS smoothly with quick startup and shutdown. The keyboard is responsive and keyboard shortcuts are great for increasing productivity. If you are lazy, you can also use Voice typing in Google docs to quickly whip up your document.

The laptop has a sleeve trick up its sleep when it comes to audio output and video, the sound and on-screen content are automatically reversed when the display is flipped over, while the slim lightweight design makes it convenient to move with the device. For connectivity the device has devices a fast USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 port. Bluetooth 4.0 technology and AC WiFi as well as an SD card slot.